New director brings her own accent to museum

Friday

Jun 8, 2012 at 2:00 AM

Thank the French, if you like, for their influence on the new executive director of the Osterville Historical Museum.

Ellen Chahey

ELLEN C. CHAHEY PHOTOS

A HAPPY BIRTHDAY INDEED – Members of the Osterville Garden Club took advantage of some nice June weather this week to tend the gardens at the Osterville Historical Museum. Kneeling, left to right, are Hebe Mannarelli and Cindi Reid. Standing, left to right, are Mary Jane Eplett, Gail Callan, Priscilla Lucier (who was celebrating her birthday), and Nancy Dawson.

Jennifer Morgan Williams looks to strengthen community ties

Thank the French, if you like, for their influence on the new executive director of the Osterville Historical Museum. When she studied French at Wellesley College, she took a course in French decorative arts. The subject “really intrigued me,” said Jennifer Morgan Williams, who, after more than two years as the museum’s communications director, has just become their executive director.

From French decorative arts, Morgan Williams moved into art history, and, “My eyes just opened up,” said the director of the museum that is home to a sea captain’s house built in 1824; a boat shop from 1855 complete with tools and unfinished hull; and a house estimated to have been built in about 1730.

Morgan Williams served her college internship at Heritage Plantation in Sandwich. There, she said, she learned from Native Americans about their art, from gardeners about theirs, and how to plan everything from fundraising events to children’s programs.

Morgan Willliams said that it was a “great privilege” to work with Gene Scholtt at Heritage, who was then the director there.

Later, she said, she worked in communications jobs where she “looked over the shoulders” of the tech people. At that time, she said, she discovered that she liked to bridge her interest in technology with those “who just wanted to get the job done.” And so she learned computer technology to go along with her interest in art and its history, not only in France but in Osterville.

Morgan Williams said that her next vision for the museum involves events that she hopes to “strengthen ties to the village and its businesses.” She said that the museum plans to host a flower show for the Osterville Garden Club in 2013 and in 2014 they plan to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wianno Senior boat.

Morgan Williams said that she and her husband share family ties to Osterville (“my in-laws live just down the street on Parker Road”) and that she has Cape memories from childhood. Her parents retired to Bourne. “I learned to swim in the Cape Cod ocean waters,” she said.

Right now, Morgan Williams, as she takes the helm at the Osterville Historical Museum, has interns who research archival photographs and have started to take recent pictures for a possible “then and now” exhibit. “We have a large collection, but we’re always looking for more… bringing history to life.”

The Museum plans many special events this summer. One is a master class on half-hull boat models in which Malcolm Crosby will carve a new work. The museum also hosts children’s parties by appointment, a farmers’ market on Fridays, and a Facebook site that features photographs of the week’s fresh produce. They collaborate with Osterville merchants, the library, and other historical societies. There are also plans for a silent auction of giclée copies of archival photographs of Osterville.

The museum’s telephone number is 508-428-5861 and the website is ostervillemusuem.org Admission is $5; free for members, and children under 12.